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GINA Lightens Fears of Genetic Discrimination, say Alpha, Foundation Clinical Director, in Denver Post Article
The Denver Post interviewed Judy Simon, who has Alpha-1, and Foundation Clinical Director Robert A. Sandhaus, MD, PhD, in this front-page story about the effects of the new Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA):
DENVER, CO—Judy Simon, 64, started getting a little breathless on the ski slopes a few years ago, but she dismissed it as aging. Then her sister was diagnosed with a rare, genetic form of the lung-destroying disease emphysema. Simon, who co-owns Bonnie Brae Ice Cream in Denver, had to decide whether to get a test for the disease, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.
“I thought, well, what if I’m a carrier for it? Would my insurance boost my rates up sky high?” Simon said.
As the scope and precision of genetic testing expands, that’s a question being asked more and more often.
